Thursday, September 24, 2009

Homegrown Al Qaeda Cell Popping

Allow me to supply knee jerk one liners:* Nothing to do with Islam* Those damn Methodists again* It's the occupation...maaaaaaaan, if only our president could chastise Israel at the UN rainbows and unicorns will save gaya. Pffffffff, oooh that doobi is gooooood. (stoner in chief)* Quick, to the nearest interfaith confrence* Aren't we lucky the war on terror man made disaster isn't real* Because us westerners abused the words Jihad, Mujahidin, Istish'had, Shahada, Shahid and misrepresented Islam... oh wait* Because there's nothing wrong with NOI and Saudi sponsored Madrassahs in the US* It's those damn Islamophobes.* It's racial profiling* It's the whites poisoning blacks and poor, quick - redistribute their wealth* Obviously the home grown Al-Qaeda haven't embraced hope and change* Gee... and I thought tearing apart the CIA would do so much good* Green jobs, that'll fix it, stimulus and 'inclusiveness'

The terror probe that burst into the spotlight in New York last week may have led authorities to the first active al Qaeda cell uncovered inside the U.S. since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, according to officials familiar with the matter.

Current and former U.S. officials say the allegations in the case embody their worst fears -- that a legal U.S. resident could quietly leave the country, receive explosives training from al Qaeda in a lawless region of Pakistan, then return to U.S. soil.

Thus far, a 24-year-old Afghan immigrant and two others have been charged only with lying to federal agents in a terrorism investigation. Assessing the conclusions reached by federal authorities, who say they don't know what the group was planning, is difficult. A fuller accounting won't be possible until the men go to trial and possibly not even then.

Hundreds of terrorism-related prosecutions, many for far more serious charges than lying to investigators, have been filed by U.S. authorities since the 9/11 attacks. On numerous occasions, U.S. officials have made startling allegations about terrorism suspects, only to later significantly dial back their rhetoric.